


they know

by LemongrassAndSleep



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25342933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemongrassAndSleep/pseuds/LemongrassAndSleep
Summary: ‘They know,’ Donna said in a serious tone, moving away from the door.‘Oh.’‘They know about us.’
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 9
Kudos: 84





	they know

‘Do I smell funny?’ Donna appeared next to Josh seemingly out of thin air. She looked flustered and her brow was furrowed in the way it does when she gets worked up.

‘How did you know when I was going to be back?’ Josh asked, walking quickly through the lobby of the west wing. His meeting on the hill had been less than successful, to put it lightly, and on top of that he still had a lot more work to do.

‘I’m friendly with the head of your secret service detail. Do I smell funny?’ Donna matched his pace with ease, having spent the better half of seven years chasing him through the corridors of the white house.

‘I don’t think so,’ Josh glanced at his watch. It was 9pm now, so there was no way he was going to be home before midnight. ‘Also, I can’t help but feel like there’s been an invasion of my privacy.’

Donna ignored that last part. ‘Are my clothes on inside out?’

‘No. Why are you pestering me?’ Josh threw his coat down on the sofa in his office and dropped his bag next to his desk before slumping in the chair behind his desk. He was surprised when Donna shut the door behind her.

‘I’ve been getting funny looks all day.’ 

‘And this is my problem how?’ Josh smirked at his girlfriend of five weeks, opening the folder he grabbed from the large pile his assistant, Clara, had placed on his desk.

‘They know,’ Donna said in a serious tone, moving away from the door.

‘Oh.’

‘They know about  _ us _ ,’ Donna elaborated, not sure what ‘oh’ was supposed to mean. She watched Josh, trying to figure out what his reaction was going to be. He was silent for a few moments as he thought over the implications of this latest development.

‘I mean, it was going to happen eventually,’ Josh got up from his chair and stood in front of Donna, taking her hand. ‘Besides, maybe people knowing that we’re together isn’t the worst thing in the world.’

‘But I thought we agreed to keep it a secret to take some of the pressure off! Did you know the Bartlet staff had a bet to see how long it would take us? A bet, Josh. People’s livelihoods are at stake!’ Donna was getting higher and higher pitched and it didn’t take some kind of Donna-expert to tell she was upset.

‘Donna,’ Josh laughed, ‘I’m pretty sure most of the Santos staff are in on it too!’’ She let out a small cry and dropped to the sofa next to Josh’s discarded coat. Right, that was the wrong thing to say. ‘If it helps, I’m sure it’s not worth that much,’ he backtracked, in a pathetic attempt to make her feel better.

‘Margaret said she bet three hundred dollars,’ Donna said, covering her face with her hands. Josh couldn’t help but smile, but then-

‘Hang on, you told Margaret!? You cannot seriously be shocked the entire white house staff knows about us if you told  _ Margaret _ ,’ Josh sat down on the sofa, pushing his coat onto the floor.

‘Hey,’ Donna’s head snapped up. ‘Margaret was senior assistant to two white house chiefs of staff for eight years, Leo needed her to do things covertly and never once would she tell any of us what was going on if she wasn’t supposed to. She can keep a secret.’ Josh opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off before he could get a word out. ‘If she told you things she shouldn’t have, it was because she was worried about Leo and thought it was in his best interest that you know.’

‘Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry,’ Josh put his hand on Donna’s knee. ‘Should I be worried that you’re so upset about people knowing?’ It dawned on her that maybe Josh thought she was having second thoughts. She frowned and put her hand on top of his.

‘I’m not embarrassed or anything Josh, I just-’ she sighed, taking a pause to make sure the words she chose were the right ones. ‘I was your assistant, I don’t have the traditional qualifications a person in my role might have and I don’t want  _ anybody  _ to be under the impression I got where I am today because I was sleeping with my boss.’

‘But we weren’t-’

‘You  _ know _ that isn’t going to matter once it gets out of this building.’ She put her head on his shoulder and he planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head. ‘I love you, but this isn’t going to affect you in the same way it’s going to affect me.’

‘I love you too. We’ll get ahead of this, I’ll talk to Lou and you talk to Annabeth, and we’ll sort something out.’

‘Are you going to tell the president?’

‘I’m pretty sure he already knows, but yeah, I’ll tell the president,’ Josh stood up and went back to his chair, picking his coat from the floor and hanging it up in the process.

‘Don’t do it tonight. I need to tell the first lady and I think we should coordinate how and when we tell them. I want them to hear it from us first.’ Josh nodded and returned to work, desperate to at least be in his bed before two.

Donna looked around the room, her eyes settling on the desk she’d seen two different people sitting behind previously. It had been two years since it was Leo’s office, but despite that she could still feel his presence in the room. ‘What do you think Leo would say about this?’

‘This?’ Josh said, not looking up.

‘Us. Do you think he was in on the bet?’

‘Nah, he’d have thought the bet was stupid. I think he’d be happy for us, though.’

‘Really?’ Donna’s face lit up. Leo’s approval meant everything to the Bartlet staff, and she was no exception. He’d always believed in Donna, right from the day she hired herself at Bartlet For America, and that had given her the extra confidence she needed on the days she found herself wondering if she should just throw in the towel and drive back to Wisconsin. 

‘Yeah. He wanted us to be happy, and you make me happy,’ Josh smiled at Donna. He really did make her happy. Donna beamed at him, and he was almost sure he could see tears in her eyes.

‘I miss him.’

Josh did his best to push down the lump in his throat. ‘Me too.’

  
  
  


When Josh finally got into his bed that night, his entire body aching after being on his feet since five in the morning, Donna rolled over and wrapped an arm over his chest. ‘How do you think people found out?’ she said sleepily, her eyes still closed.

‘Why are you still awake?’ The last thing Josh wanted was his terrible sleeping habits rubbing off on Donna, although, he supposed, eight years of them working together had had that effect already, since Donna didn’t like leaving him alone in the office at night. More so than ever after Rosslyn.

‘Had work to catch up on, I’ve only been in bed for fifteen minutes. How do you think people found out?’ She repeated.

‘Sam swears it wasn’t him.’

‘Well, the only person I told besides Margaret is CJ, and she’s on the other side of the country. Wait, you told Sam?’ Donna said, finally opening her eyes.

‘You told CJ  _ and _ Margaret!’

‘Yeah, well, they don’t work with us anymore,’ Donna pouted, giving him a light swat. ‘Is that why he’s been pulling stupid faces every time he sees us together?’

‘Nah, that’s just his face,’ Josh joked, and Donna cracked a smile.

‘You should be nicer to your deputy chief of staff.’

‘Yeah, why?’

‘You dragged him out of a very well paid job at a law firm to come work for you,  _ yet again _ ,’ she scolded playfully.

‘Technically, the first time I dragged him out to come work  _ with  _ me. But yeah, I suppose I did,’ he said, running his hands through her hair the way he knew she liked. Donna rolled her eyes.

‘Seriously though, how do you think they know?’

‘It’s not like we’ve been subtle. We’ve arrived at work together everyday since we took office and we spend all our lunches together. Also, we both took the same week off to go to Hawaii and I’m pretty sure they can put two and two together. It wasn’t going to take long before they realised something was up. Quite frankly, if it had, I’d be having serious doubts about their suitability for the job.’

‘Hm,’ Donna mumbled. She was fighting to stay awake.

‘Also, I’m pretty sure a few people saw us both leave that closet at the same time a few weeks ago.’

‘What!? Why didn’t you say something you idiot?’ She swatted him again, feigning anger.

‘Ow! Because you would’ve been stressing out about something you have no control over for weeks and I didn’t want you to be worried,’ Josh explained, rubbing his arm in an attempt to exaggerate his injury.

‘Oh. That’s actually quite sweet.’

‘I’m very sweet!’

‘You have your moments.’

‘Go to sleep,’ Josh laughed.

‘M’kay,’ Donna mumbled, head on his chest. ‘Everything’s going to work out, right?’ Josh felt his heart break a little with the unfairness of the situation. She was right earlier, and he was determined to minimise the amount of scrutiny she was sure to be subject to from the media in the days and weeks after the people of Washington, DC hear the news.

‘Definitely. And I’m with you all the way.’

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

In the morning, they will tell President and Mrs Santos, and then the press offices of the east and west wings will begin to work on a strategy to release the news with as little fanfare as possible. Whatever happens after that is uncertain, but Donna was content with the knowledge that Josh would protect her as best he could. That night, however, they slept well in each others’ arms, knowing they would jump this hurdle - and many hurdles to come - together.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! i'm making a return to writing fanfic after five years. i didn't realise how much i'd missed it. this is my first west wing fanfic, and tbh i was a bit nervous to write it because i wasn't sure i could do sorkin's characters justice. i really want to improve my writing so if you think i could improve anything for next time, please let me know! also don't forget to leave a kudos <3 thanks for reading! :)


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